The present invention relates to a method of minimizing injury to a plant, particularly a crop plant which injury is caused by a herbicide treatment of the locus of the crop plant. The method of the present invention includes applying to the plant locus, an insecticide, which insecticide operates to reduce or eliminate injury to the plant that would have otherwise occurred when the plant was subsequently treated with a herbicide.
Neonicotinoids, which may be otherwise called chloronicotinyls or chloronicotinyl insecticides, are generally known in the field of agriculture. Generally, neonicotinoid insecticides are known as agonists or antagonists of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors of insects. Some neonicotinoids are described as plant growth enhancers in Patent Cooperation Treaty publication No. WO 01/26468.
Herbicidal treatment of plants, particularly crop plants, can significantly increase crop plant yields and improve the heartiness of the crop plant by removing other vegetation competing for food and water. However, as herbicides operate to eliminate or reduce weeds or other unwanted plants in the area of the crop plant, it is sometimes the case that the herbicide being applied to enhance the plants growth and strength, operates to harm or weaken the very crop plant it was intended to help.
Efforts have been made in the art to produce plants that are resistant to herbicides, as for example certain transgenic plants. Efforts have also been made in the art to develop herbicides which are “safened”, which generally means that the herbicide is formulated in such a way that it will not hurt the crop plant while still eliminating the weeds surrounding the crop plant.
However, there remains a need in the art for new and improved ways of treating plants, particularly crop plants, with herbicides to enhance their strength, growth and yield, yet not damaging or otherwise injuring the crop plant with the herbicide.